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  • Aussie Giveaway Linkup #62: The away edition

    Aussie Giveaway Linkup #62: The away edition

    The Bloke in The Shed and I spent last night at Horizon Deluxe Apartments at Stanley in Tasmania’s far north west – our first night away in three years.

    Stanley Deluxe Apartments

    That’s not me, by the way. Those photos are to come…

    This post has been written prior to us going away, because I wasn’t allowed to take a laptop or iPad with me. So I’m just assuming we had a long, hot bath, snuggled up to watch the sun set and dined on dishes featuring local produce from the exquisite restaurant down the road.

    While we were ooing and ahhing over the website photos the other night, Julian piped up with: “On Sunday, I’ll cook you breakfast in bed and we’ll take our time packing everything up to leave.’’

    Sounded heavenly.

    Then:

    “Oh, and I forgot to tell you, I’ve signed us up to a big community walk on the way home that I’m meant to be part of.’’
    Ahhh….. right!

    Blisters on my feet was not how I anticipated ending our relaxing weekend away.

    What do you think of Horizon Deluxe Apartments? Who could use a night away right about now?

    Please, before linking up, if you could note the new rules. Due to the name of the linky being Aussie Giveaway Linkup, it’s important that the links are BY Aussie blogs and the giveaways for Australians.

    If you’re a blogger or business wanting to take part in the Aussie Giveaway Linkup:
    1. Only link directly to the giveaway post/s and include the prize and end date in the linky tool below. Link each giveaway separately. If you need to delete it, hover over your link, wait until the red “x’’ appears and click.
    2. Giveaways must be open to Australian residents and by Australian-based bloggers or businesses.
    3. Grab the button below to add to your post.
    4. A new list is added each Sunday so bloggers need to add their links weekly.
    5. Start entering the giveaways! Entry is at your own risk. We do not take responsibility for unfulfilled prizes or a blogger/business not abiding by their own terms and conditions.

     



    Aussie Giveaway Linky
    Hosted by Three Lil Princesses



  • 5. #BloggingPrompts: Open yourself up to guest posts

    5. #BloggingPrompts: Open yourself up to guest posts

    Blogging guest posts

    One thing I wasn’t so comfortable with in the early days of blogging was opening this space up to other bloggers. Seriously, this is my site – get your own. However, I’ve also learnt over time that it’s a great way to promote and market your blog through others’ networks, assist with gaining content you may otherwise have not thought of yourself and the content is generally high quality (we always put the most effort into content we write for others). Lastly, and probably most importantly, it’s an opportunity to help grow a fellow blogger’s site as well.

    To attract guest posts, you could include a “be my guest” page on your site or just include a few lines about accepting guest posts within another page on your site – your About Me page, Advertise/PR page etc. Alternatively, write a post about wanting to attract guest bloggers, do a Facebook or Twitter shout out or directly email bloggers you have in mind.

    It’s a good idea to give some guidelines on what you’re after. Having a guest post series has worked well on this blog, including the Alphabet Photography Challenge last year. I really should get onto creating another series…

    So, are you willing to open up your space to other writers? Do you already accept guest posts?

    This mini post is part of a regular microblogging series, #BloggingPrompts. 

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  • Gardening can be fun. Umm, are you sure?

    Gardening can be fun. Umm, are you sure?

    dirtgirl scrapbook

    You hear people who have a liking for terry towelling hats go on about the therapeutic wonders of gardening. Generally, it has the opposite effect on me, primarily because of the state of the seedlings after I’ve had my way with them. I did not inherit my mum’s green thumb.

    However, I still can’t help but have this desire to want a vegetable garden abundant with fresh produce for the kitchen – every Spring. And so the planning has begun. I’ve weeded out (pardon the pun) which plants won’t grow and which we have moderate success with here on the North West Coast of Tasmania.

    Here’s what works:
    Lettuces – usually more than we can manage
    Cucumbers – each year I vow I’ll use them to help the bags under my eyes, but somehow eat the lot.
    Zucchinis – Zucchini slice is eaten till we turn green.
    Corn – only if in a certain spot in the garden
    Peas – usually don’t make it to the kitchen
    Beans – as above, but not usually with the same degree of enjoyment from small children.
    Carrots – they don’t really look like carrots. The last lot looked more like deformed Barbie dolls.

    dirtgirl scrapbook

    With the weather soon to warm up, we’ve started to explore the new dirtgirl scrapbook. It can basically be used for whatever you wish, but we’ve decided to make it very much focused on gardening and the recipes we create from those veggies – if they grow, of course!

    dirtgirl scrapbook

    Ella has already drawn pictures of what she’d like in the garden (although, I’ve had to explain, we can’t grow chocolate) and used some of the cut outs of dirtgirl, pumpkins and flowers to glue onto one of the blank pages.

    dirtgirl scrapbook

    As part of the Grow Garden Journal Expansion Pack (sold separately), there are dedicated “in my garden today’’ pages, which inspired our gardening focus, along with recipe pages and a sheet of weather stickers. As part of the scrapbook itself, we also have 64 blank pages and pretty craft pattern pages to use for dried leaves, to paste photos to and write in information we glean from the internet to help our gardening become a little more… fruitful. What I love most about the scrapbook is the fact it grows with you – you can add pages as you fill up the existing ones.

    dirtgirl scrapbook

    The scrapbook certainly oozes quality, style and will have longevity – this is something to treasure many years into the future. I can’t wait to look back on this journal and see what we produced together – with our bare hands and a bit of sun! Priced at $39.95, I think it’s going to be particularly popular with the grandmas out there. I see a lot of grandparent and grandchild projects happening over the coming months.

    Now go get grubby!

    The dirtgirlworld scrapbook is available through selected Stockists and online at shop.leafjournals.com.

    DISCLAIMER: Cath Connell from Leaf. Paper and Journals is a Mum PR client. However, I genuinely love this product. Hence the reason for feeling compelled to blog about it!

    How does your garden grow? What vegies do you have the most success with?

  • Lessons for Blokes No. 3: Always read the instructions

    Lessons for Blokes No. 3: Always read the instructions

    children drawing up a manual
    Writing a manual for Dad!

    Never been big on reading instructions. Guess I’ve figured if they print them in type that small then they are probably not worth reading, right?

    Where I’ve discovered a possible exception to that rule – instructions on medicine.

    A couple of weeks back Princess Ella wasn’t feeling well. She was complaining of a sore stomach and we’d determined that was because it was an inordinate amount of time since she’d been to the toilet.  Instructions came that I was to buy some medicine to encourage a trip to the toilet before returning from work.

    As instructed, I returned from work with said medicine and I was smart enough to read the required quantity before administering it.

    Only after delivering the medicine did I read this: “It may take 6-8 hours to take effect’’.

    Now, I’d administered the medicine at 6pm.
    Oh crap. Literally.
    I thought, I’m gonna be up in the middle of the night with Ella when this kicks into gear.

    Sure enough, at 2am the call from Ella comes.  We stagger into the bathroom and she proceeds to explode.  I’m sitting on the floor, she’s sitting on the toilet and I’m saying “Are you finished yet?”.  A feeble “nooooo’’ is the answer I get on repeated occasions.

    Sitting there on the cold, hard floor of the bathroom I then vow ALWAYS to read the instructions.

    Is not reading the instructions a male thing? Do you read the instructions?

     

  • Aussie Giveaway Linkup #61: The Olympic Edition

    Aussie Giveaway Linkup #61: The Olympic Edition

    Olympics

    Today, I thought I’d give you an insight into Ella’s “winning’’ view on the Olympics, via a conversation she had with The Bloke in The Shed. The script went something like this:

    Scene: Commentary from the men’s swimming 200-metre medley heats during the Olympics blasts from the TV. Dressed in pyjamas, Ella creeps from her bedroom into the lounge room. She looks around the room, trying to find a reason to stall bedtime.

    Ella: “What stroke are they doing, Daddy?’’

    Julian: “That’s the butterfly, darlin’. Now get into bed.’’

    Ella: “Well, what stroke is that now, Daddy?’’

    Julian: “That’s backstroke, darlin’. Now get into bed, please.’’

    Ella: “But I can’t do those strokes, Daddy. When are they going to do the one I can do? (motioning her little arms in the form of doggy paddle).’’

    Julian: “They don’t, darlin’.’’

    Ella: (with sad face) “But how will I be able to go in the Olympics?’’

    Julian: “Well darlin’, if you can talk them into adding a dog paddle event, shrinking the size of the Olympic pool to about five metres and allowing personal flotation devices, then I reckon you are set.’’

    Ella: (Skips off to bed happily).

    How are your children enjoying the Olympics? Or are they like me and do everything to avoid it?

    Now, it’s time to score something nice in this week’s linky. Just click on any – or all – of the links below for the chance to win.

    If you’re a blogger or business wanting to take part in the Aussie Giveaway Linkup:
    1. Only link directly to the giveaway post/s and include the prize and end date in the linky tool below. Link each giveaway separately. If you need to delete it, hover over your link, wait until the red “x’’ appears and click.
    2. Giveaways must be open to Australian residents.
    3. Grab the button below to add to your post.
    4. A new list is added each Sunday so bloggers need to add their links weekly.
    5. Start entering the giveaways! Entry is at your own risk. We do not take responsibility for unfulfilled prizes or a blogger/business not abiding by their own terms and conditions.



    Aussie Giveaway Linky
    Hosted by Three Lil Princesses



  • Fishing in the toilet bowl – or something like it

    Fishing in the toilet bowl – or something like it

    girls in box

    A few days ago, just as the girls were about to get into the bath, Ella popped herself up on the toilet to do a whizzer. Li’l Holly decided she wanted to know what the fuss was all about with this weeing thing and so stuck her head in the toilet, behind Ella, to take a look.

    Midway through Ella’s twinkling, Holly decides to talk about the wonderment of wee while her dummy is in her mouth. Which is not a good idea when your head is over a toilet bowl. As expected, she drops her dummy… and all hell breaks loose.

    Ella panics and jumps off the toilet. Mid wee. The wee, however, doesn’t stop. I try to coax her back onto the toilet, with no luck. I reach for t-shirts, trousers, dresses and towels – anything – to stick under her.

    From the corner of my eye, I then notice Holly is reaching into the toilet for “dum dum, Mum. My dum dum’’. Noooooo. I take a deep breath, plunge my hand into the deep dark depths of the toilet bowl and retrieve the little sucker.

    Saved.

    There is silence for a good 60 seconds.

    Seriously, this never happened pre-kids.

    Have you had to retrieve dummy’s from wee-filled toilet bowls before? Or worse?